Job-31
v1
“I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin?
v2
What would be my portion from God above and my heritage from the Almighty on high?
v3
Is not calamity for the unrighteous, and disaster for the workers of iniquity?
v4
Does not he see my ways and number all my steps?
v5
“If I have walked with falsehood and my foot has hastened to deceit;
v6
(Let me be weighed in a just balance, and let God know my integrity!)
v7
if my step has turned aside from the way and my heart has gone after my eyes, and if any spot has stuck to my hands,
v8
then let me sow, and another eat, and let what grows for me be rooted out.
v9
“If my heart has been enticed toward a woman, and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door,
v10
then let my wife grind for another, and let others bow down on her.
v11
For that would be a heinous crime; that would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges;
v12
for that would be a fire that consumes as far as Abaddon, and it would burn to the root all my increase.
v13
“If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant, when they brought a complaint against me,
v14
what then shall I do when God rises up? When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him?
v15
Did not he who made me in the womb make him? And did not one fashion us in the womb?
v16
“If I have withheld anything that the poor desired, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
v17
or have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless has not eaten of it
v18
(for from my youth the fatherless grew up with me as with a father, and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow),
v19
if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, or the needy without covering,
v20
if his body has not blessed me, and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep,
v21
if I have raised my hand against the fatherless, because I saw my help in the gate,
v22
then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder, and let my arm be broken from its socket.
v23
For I was in terror of calamity from God, and I could not have faced his majesty.
v24
“If I have made gold my trust or called fine gold my confidence,
v25
if I have rejoiced because my wealth was abundant or because my hand had found much,
v26
if I have looked at the sun when it shone, or the moon moving in splendor,
v27
and my heart has been secretly enticed, and my mouth has kissed my hand,
v28
this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges, for I would have been false to God above.
v29
“If I have rejoiced at the ruin of him who hated me, or exulted when evil overtook him
v30
(I have not let my mouth sin by asking for his life with a curse),
v31
if the men of my tent have not said, ‘Who is there that has not been filled with his meat?‘
v32
(the sojourner has not lodged in the street; I have opened my doors to the traveler),
v33
if I have concealed my transgressions as others do by hiding my iniquity in my heart,
v34
because I stood in great fear of the multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors—
v35
Oh, that I had one to hear me! (Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me!) Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary!
v36
Surely I would carry it on my shoulder; I would bind it on me as a crown;
v37
I would give him an account of all my steps; like a prince I would approach him.
v38
“If my land has cried out against me and its furrows have wept together,
v39
if I have eaten its yield without payment and made its owners breathe their last,
v40
let thorns grow instead of wheat, and foul weeds instead of barley.” The words of Job are ended.